Post by Christine on Aug 23, 2007 6:13:04 GMT -5
JACQUES DIOUF
Even farm animals go extinct
By Jacques Diouf | August 23, 2007
ROME
IN THE Colombian Andes, the Blanco Orejinegro cattle breed, known for its longevity, tolerance to high altitudes, and resistance to parasites, is under threat; only 260 animals of this breed remain. Time may also be running out for the fat-tailed Namaqua Africander sheep of South Africa, a breed highly adapted to harsh, arid desert environments. Only one flock of 400 animals remains.
Equally grim is the outlook for the Yakut cattle of Siberia. These highly adapted animals can tolerate subzero temperatures and poor feeding, and exhibit resistance to tuberculosis, leucosis, and brucellosis, problem diseases for cattle in the region. Yet just 900 animals are left.
One livestock breed a month has become extinct over the past seven years -- that means its genetic characteristics have been lost forever. Around 20 percent of the world's breeds of cattle, goats, pigs, horses, and poultry are at risk of extinction, according to a report by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization. The report offers the first global overview of livestock biodiversity and of the capacity of countries to manage their animal genetic resources.
Strenuous efforts to understand and protect the world's animal genetic resources for food and agriculture are urgently needed. Many breeds at risk of extinction have unique characteristics, such as disease resistance or tolerance to climatic strains, which future generations may need to draw on to cope with climate change, emerging animal diseases, and rising demand for specific livestock products.
Wise management of agricultural biodiversity is becoming an ever greater challenge. The livestock sector in particular is undergoing rapid changes as large-scale intensive production expands in response to surging demand for meat, milk, and eggs. This has led to heavy reliance on a very narrow range of high-output breeds, frequently resulting in the crowding out of local animals.
In the next 40 years, the world's population will rise from 6.2 billion to 9 billion, with all this growth occurring in developing countries. More people will require more meat, milk, eggs, and other livestock products. A wide portfolio of animal genetic resources is crucial to adapting and developing the world's agricultural production systems and increasing the resilience of our food supply. It is even more worrying that genetic resources are being lost before their characteristics are recorded and before their potential is evaluated.
Effective management of animal genetic diversity requires resources that many developing countries lack. Nearly half of the world's countries lack national in vivo conservation programs, which involve the conservation of live animals, and more than 60 percent have no in vitro programs -- that is, the conservation in gene banks of embryos, semen, or other genetic material with the potential to reconstitute live animals at a later date. Similarly, in many countries, structured breeding programs are either absent or ineffective.
Traditional livestock keepers -- often poor and in marginal environments -- have been the stewards of much of the world's animal diversity. Livestock keepers and their communities should be assisted so that they can play an effective role in breed development and in on-farm breed conservation.
Greater international cooperation is necessary to ensure the continued exchange and further development of these resources.
An international framework for the management of animal resources is crucial. Next month representatives of more than 120 governments are meeting in Interlaken, Switzerland, at the first International Technical Conference on Animal Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, to hammer out a global plan to halt the loss of the world's precious livestock diversity.
Animal diversity is part of our common heritage that is too valuable to neglect. Commitment and cooperation in the sustainable use, development, and conservation of the world's farm animal diversity is urgently required. For the Blanco Orejinegro and thousands of other breeds on the brink of extinction, there is no time to lose. Extinction is forever.
Jacques Diouf is director general of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization in Rome. This column first appeared in the International Herald Tribune.
Even farm animals go extinct
By Jacques Diouf | August 23, 2007
ROME
IN THE Colombian Andes, the Blanco Orejinegro cattle breed, known for its longevity, tolerance to high altitudes, and resistance to parasites, is under threat; only 260 animals of this breed remain. Time may also be running out for the fat-tailed Namaqua Africander sheep of South Africa, a breed highly adapted to harsh, arid desert environments. Only one flock of 400 animals remains.
Equally grim is the outlook for the Yakut cattle of Siberia. These highly adapted animals can tolerate subzero temperatures and poor feeding, and exhibit resistance to tuberculosis, leucosis, and brucellosis, problem diseases for cattle in the region. Yet just 900 animals are left.
One livestock breed a month has become extinct over the past seven years -- that means its genetic characteristics have been lost forever. Around 20 percent of the world's breeds of cattle, goats, pigs, horses, and poultry are at risk of extinction, according to a report by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization. The report offers the first global overview of livestock biodiversity and of the capacity of countries to manage their animal genetic resources.
Strenuous efforts to understand and protect the world's animal genetic resources for food and agriculture are urgently needed. Many breeds at risk of extinction have unique characteristics, such as disease resistance or tolerance to climatic strains, which future generations may need to draw on to cope with climate change, emerging animal diseases, and rising demand for specific livestock products.
Wise management of agricultural biodiversity is becoming an ever greater challenge. The livestock sector in particular is undergoing rapid changes as large-scale intensive production expands in response to surging demand for meat, milk, and eggs. This has led to heavy reliance on a very narrow range of high-output breeds, frequently resulting in the crowding out of local animals.
In the next 40 years, the world's population will rise from 6.2 billion to 9 billion, with all this growth occurring in developing countries. More people will require more meat, milk, eggs, and other livestock products. A wide portfolio of animal genetic resources is crucial to adapting and developing the world's agricultural production systems and increasing the resilience of our food supply. It is even more worrying that genetic resources are being lost before their characteristics are recorded and before their potential is evaluated.
Effective management of animal genetic diversity requires resources that many developing countries lack. Nearly half of the world's countries lack national in vivo conservation programs, which involve the conservation of live animals, and more than 60 percent have no in vitro programs -- that is, the conservation in gene banks of embryos, semen, or other genetic material with the potential to reconstitute live animals at a later date. Similarly, in many countries, structured breeding programs are either absent or ineffective.
Traditional livestock keepers -- often poor and in marginal environments -- have been the stewards of much of the world's animal diversity. Livestock keepers and their communities should be assisted so that they can play an effective role in breed development and in on-farm breed conservation.
Greater international cooperation is necessary to ensure the continued exchange and further development of these resources.
An international framework for the management of animal resources is crucial. Next month representatives of more than 120 governments are meeting in Interlaken, Switzerland, at the first International Technical Conference on Animal Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, to hammer out a global plan to halt the loss of the world's precious livestock diversity.
Animal diversity is part of our common heritage that is too valuable to neglect. Commitment and cooperation in the sustainable use, development, and conservation of the world's farm animal diversity is urgently required. For the Blanco Orejinegro and thousands of other breeds on the brink of extinction, there is no time to lose. Extinction is forever.
Jacques Diouf is director general of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization in Rome. This column first appeared in the International Herald Tribune.